Public Citizen Inc’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 federal appellate · 1 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 23 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “First, an agency decision not to enforce often involves a complicated balancing of a number of factors which are peculiarly within its expertise. Thus, the agency must not only assess whether a violation has occurred, but whether agency resources are best spent on this violation or another, whether the agency is likely to succeed if it acts, whether the particular enforcement action requested best fits the agency’s overall policies, and, indeed, whether the agency has enough resources to undertake action at all... The agency is far better equipped than the courts to deal with the many variables involved in the proper ordering of priorities... In addition to these administrative concerns, we note that when an agency refuses to act it generally does not exercise its coercive power over an individual’s liberty upon areas that courts often are called upon to protect. .. Finally, we recognize that an agency’s refusal to initiate proceedings shares to some extent the characteristics of the decision of a prosecutor in the Executive Branch not to indict — a decision which has long been regarded as the special province of the Executive Branch[.]”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Ohio Public Interest Research Group, Inc. v. Whitman

2. “NYPIRG maintains that because Congress instructed in § 502(i) that whenever deficiencies exist “the Administrator shall provide notice [of deficiencies],” the EPA has no discretion. But NYPIRG’s fixation on this phrase glosses over the rest of the provision and, in so doing, misreads it. As the EPA correctly notes, the key phrase of § 502(i)(l) is the opening one, “Whenever the Administrator makes a determination,” and this language grants discretion... Because the determination is to occur whenever the EPA makes it, the determination is necessarily discretionary... Accordingly, we conclude that § 502(i) affords the EPA discretion whether to make a determination that a state permitting authority is not adequately administering and enforcing its permitting program. Once that determination is made, certain statutorily mandated con sequences, including the issuance of a notice, follow; but the decision whether to make that determination as an initial matter is a discretionary one.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Ohio Public Interest Research Group, Inc. v. Whitman

3. “requires major stationary sources of air pollution, such as factories, to receive operating permits incorporating CAA requirements and establishes a procedure for federal authorization of state-run Title V permit programs. Title V permits do not impose additional requirements on sources but, to facilitate compliance, consolidate all applicable requirements in a single document.” Id. at 453 (internal citation omitted). As is relevant here,”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Gulf Restoration Network v. McCarthy